[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Re: Help on Pricing



Steven's points are well taken. I have been thinking of late about what CSA
REALLY is. There are so many ways that a CSA farm can be organized,
started, managed. The variations on the theme that Jeff makes reference to.
I like to think that the community of CSAs is an inclusive one. An emphasis
on one part of the acronym doesn't preclude the use of CSA as a description
for a farm.   CSA is certainly more than simply another marketing tool. But
at one end of the spectrum, CSA may mean simply a farm supported by the
community; this farm may be using CSA as very little more than a marketing
tool. One which might be saving the farm, a goal which I think Robyn would
very much approve of. The other end of CSA is going to emphasize the
nourishment of body, soul and heart of the community and the individuals
within it. A CSA, even at the marketing tool end, is going to be a center
of education (whether it does so actively or not) for the community
surrounding it. Can all of the variations be under the CSA umbrella? We
think so. 

Jo and Jim at Five Springs Farm

----------
> From: Steven McFadden <tawndor@tidalwave.net>
> To: Jim and Jo at Five Springs Farm <fsfarm@mufn.org>
> Cc: csa-l@prairienet.org
> Subject: Re: Help on Pricing
> Date: Wednesday, July 15, 1998 6:53 PM
> 
> There is another way of viewing the pricing question. Instead of basing
> price on asking how much did we spend to produce these vegetables and
> how much do we need to get to cover our costs and make a profit, to ask
> instead: What does is the true cost of maintaining and improving our
> farm?  What does it take to keep our farm alive and feeding people, and
> acting as a center -- an oasis -- or environmental and community health. 
> 
> This is a very different starting point, and it can lead to a wide and
> surprising variety of answers.
> 
> Is CSA just about vegetables -- growing, selling and buying?  Surely the
> late Robyn Van En is perking up her spirit ears at that cyber-question.
> I feel safe in asserting that she would answer no.  Likewise, I also
> must answer no.  It is about a whole lot more.
> 
> This is not an incidental point. The whole foundation of a CSA -- what
> it is really about and what it is really -- ultimately -- doing, will
> proceed from the responses.
> 
> If people are using CSA as just another way to sell and buy vegetables,
> they might well consider changing the meaning of the C in the acronym:
> from Community to Consumer.
> 
> Good luck and best wishes, Steven McFadden


Follow-Ups: